Air Operations, CBI

• 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack coastal targets.

Air Operations, Europe

• 29 Stirlings and 7 Lancasters of 3 Group and the Pathfinder Force are sent to Turin with the main target being the Fiat works.
• Weather conditions are poor and only 18 aircraft are known to have crossed the Alps and to have bombed Turin; reports from the ground indicate 16 people are killed and 15 injured.
•    2 Stirlings are lost.

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to Belgium to hit targets of opportunity in the first night operation for Mosquitos; railway yards at 5 locations in Belgium are bombed; there are no losses.

Air Operations, Libya

IX Bomber Command B-24s attacking Tripoli harbor at dusk claim hits on 2 vessels, an anti-aircraft battery, docks, and warehouses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-17s and A-20s, and 49th Fighter Group P-40s attack numerous targets in the Gona area. B-25s and 1 A-20 attack the airfield at Lae. B-17s damage 2 of 4 Japanese destroyer-transports in the Vitiaz Strait, thus thwarting an effort to land Japanese Army ground reinforcements in the bitterly contested Gona area.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• 44 C-47 transports of the 62nd and 64th Troop Carrier Groups drop 530 British Army paratroopers at Depienne, near Oudna Airdrome, 10 miles south of Tunis. The drop is highly accurate, but the ground attack fails ending in a months-long stalemate on the ground.
• 15th Light Bomb Squadron A-20s, escorted by P-38s, attack Gabes Airdrome.
• 1st and 4th Fighter Group P-38s down 2 Luftwaffe Bf-110 twin-engine fighters and 2 Ju-88 medium bombers during two separate actions.

Britain, Home Front

Churchill broadcasts from London, warning the Italian people that they must choose between a full-scale Allied attack and a revolt against Mussolini.

Eastern Front

The Russians continue to gain ground in the Stalingrad sector, and von Manstein begins to see the danger into which his own army if falling. Fighting flares up again in the Caucasus, where the Russians begin a series of attacks in the Terek sector.

Heavy fighting continues around the Rzhev salient as Operation MARS grinds on. The 20th Army continues to throw forces into the offensive but suffers massive losses for almost no gain. The VI Tank Corps, isolated by German counterattacks, continues to push forward into destruction.

The 41st Army continues to attack Belyi in a vain effort to isolate the German garrison. Despite minor local gains, the Germans again prevent the fall of the town to the Soviets.

The IV Cavalry Corps attacks Kotelnikovo, becoming embroiled in heavy fighting with the LVII Panzer Corps as it detrains. The 6th Army is also attacked on its southern perimeter as the Soviets attempt to push it away from the front on the Chir.

Guadalcanal

The 3rd Battalion, 147th Infantry, elements of the 246th Field Artillery Battalion, part of the 9th Marine Defense Battalion, and additional Seabees are landed in the Koli Point area, where an airfield, Carne, is to be constructed. The Aola Bay area has been rejected as unsuitable for an airfield site. The Americans examine the possibility of withdrawing the Marines from Guadalcanal and giving operational responsibility to the army. More and more army units have reached the island in the last month or so. Gen Alexander M. Patch would succeed Gen Vandegrift, who has directed operations up to now.

The flagship Naganami, with the destroyer Takanami, and 6 supply destroyers set out with Adm Tanaka in command. The ships sail south during the night hoping to avoid American detection. A cruiser force under Read-Adm Carleton H. Wright is told to counter any and all night landing attempts by the Japanese. The cruisers have been divided into two groups making sure at least one ship in each is equipped with the newest search radar. 4 Destroyers of the task force will operate as one group under a division commander and are expected to make much more effective use of their torpedoes. There will be no searchlights for the Americans. If any are seen it is to be assumed it is a Japanese ship. 15 minutes after Tanaka has sailed, Wright receives a message from Halsey to be ready. The Japanese are sending a force to land troops and supplies at Guadalcanal and will arrive the night of the 30th. The US task force sails to make the 600-mile journey to Guadalcanal traveling at 28 knots.

Indian Ocean

The US freighter Sawokla is sunk by torpedo and gunfire from the German auxiliary cruiser Michel about 400 miles southeast of Madagascar, while en route from Colombo, Ceylon to Cape Town, South Africa. 16 of the 41-man crew as well as 4 of the 14 Armed Guard are killed in the attack. Michel rescues 25 crewmen, 9 Armed Guard sailors and 5 passengers.

New Guinea

Allied bombers intercept 4 Japanese destroyers in the Vitiaz Strait and attack, forcing them to change course. The 4 ships were transporting reinforcements from Rabaul, New Britain, to the Gona beachhead. Japanese troops who have withdrawn towards positions north of Gona along the west bank of the Kumusi River reach Giruwa on board a lighter.

North Africa

The British 36th Bde, advancing towards Bizerta, is held up by German paratroops on Djebel, Azzag, Green Hill, and Djebel Agred, Bald Hill.

The British 1st Army is stalled at Djedeïda by firm opposition, although the 11th Brigade, 78th Div, continues fighting there. A British parachute battalion of the British 1st Parachute Bde lands at Depienne, 10 miles northeast of Pont-du-Fahs, with the task of capturing Oudna airport and threatening Tunis from the south, but they are repulsed and forced to retreat.

Pacific

The German naval tanker Uckermark (ex-Altmark: see February 16, 1940) is sunk by an accidental explosion at Yokohoma. The blast also destroys the disguised raider Thor.